Chill out... with a little help from some friends; Major gig with ex-Beatles will help children in Welsh schools.

Byline: Katie Norman

AN AMERICAN super-gig featuring ex-Beatles Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will enable schoolchildren in South Wales to learn to meditate.

The fundraising concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall raised money for the David Lynch Foundation, which aims to promote the benefits of transcendental meditation worldwide.

A portion of the profits will enable the National Meditation Centre of Wales, based in Llandaff, Cardiff, to offer training courses in Welsh schools.

Centre director Helen Evans said: "The money will help teach 10,000 children to meditate across the UK - and some of that will be available for us in Wales.

"It's fantastic because so little is known about transcendental meditation.

"When people hear it's from the East they assume it's a cult or a religion, which is a shame because it's neither of those things.

"It's not even a way of life, it's just a technique to enable you to relax and help you cope better with your day." The concert, called Change Begins Within, was the first time Starr and McCartney had played together publicly in seven years. Their involvement was down to their beliefs in the benefits of transcendental meditation, a practice they learnt in the 1960s when The Beatles sought spiritual guidance from an Indian guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

"It was a great gift that Maharishi gave us," McCartney told a news conference to promote the concert.

"For me, it came at a time when we were looking for something to kind of stabilise us toward the end of the crazy Sixties.

"It's a lifelong gift. It's something you can call on at any time. I think it's a great thing it's actually coming into the mainstream." The concert also featured Sheryl Crow, Donovan, Jerry Seinfeld, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, blues-folk star Ben Harper and dance musician Moby.

It raised an estimated $3m (pounds 2m) for the meditative foundation set up by film-maker David Lynch.

While his screen credits include Twin

Peaks, Mulholland Drive and Eraserhead, Lynch today dedicates his time to making meditation more accessible to schoolchildren.

Studies have claimed that transcendental technique can lower stress levels, anxiety and blood pressure.

It involves relaxing without concentrating on anything by sitting comfortably and chanting a mantra with eyes closed.

James Purvis, a Cardiffbased consultant for the National Meditation Centre of Wales, said the mantra aimed to create a pleasant and calming ambience. He said: "If you're at school and the teacher's nail scratches on the blackboard as she's writing on it, we know that sounds unpleasant.

"But there are certain words or sounds that create an enjoyable melody that the mind can engage with - and that's what the mantra is.

"Transcendental meditation is sitting quietly and comfortably while enjoying that mantra."

CAPTION(S):

Beatles legends Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr performing in New York to help raise cash for charity